Labour Economics ECON30006
Individual Essay
DUE BY: 4pm, Sunday, 28 May, 2023.
Your “Essay” – or more accurately your Research Review – is to be submitted via the LMS
“Assignments” menu item by the due date and time.
This assessment is worth 10% of the overall grade for the subject. It is to be completed and
submitted individually.
Your review must be no more than 1,200 words in total, excluding any reference list.
Submissions that exceed word limits will attract marking penalties (1 mark out of 10 for
each 10% of length beyond this limit).
When typing your review, use as minimums: line spacing of 1.5, font size of 12 and 2.5
centimetre margins.
Answers not received by the due date and time – and if no formal assignment extension
has been granted by the Faculty (see the Subject Guide for information regarding applying
for assessment extensions) – will have one point (out of 10) taken off for every weekday the
assessment is late. Assessment answers will not be accepted after 4pm on Sunday 4 June
(students will receive zero for the assessment if not received by this date and time).
Review Objective
The purpose of this assessment is for students to gain more experience in reading and criti-
cally examining a piece of empirical economic research, a very important skill for economics
graduates. Students are to choose one article from the list of articles provided below to
review.
One of the objectives is to gain practice in writing concisely and clearly. You should consider
using headings, sub-headings, enumeration and dot points to emphasize the important issues.
Make your points as clearly and succinctly as possible. Providing an “Executive Summary”
at the beginning that briefly lists the main points of interest to an employer would also be
appropriate. Be critical of the research article only if you deem it appropriate.
Review Coverage
Your review should, at a minimum, cover the following eight questions / issues, but you
should NOT simply provide answers to these questions in turn. You should NOT repeat
this list of questions / issues in your review. Marks for this assessment will be based on how
well you meet the brief of writing a self-contained review for a potential future or current
employer.
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Labour Economics ECON30006
1. What is the objective of the analysis (the research question)?
2. What data is being used: the data type and what population does it cover?
3. What estimation problem is being tackled, and what strategy do the author(s) employ
to tackle it?
4. What are the main empirical findings of the research?
5. What do the authors conclude from their findings?
6. Are the findings in general alignment with other research on this topic?
Provide a few details.
7. Do you find the estimation strategy convincing? Why or why not?
What are the major strengths and weaknesses of the strategy?
8. Provide at least one suggestion for improving the analysis.
LIST OF ARTICLES FROM WHICH TO CHOOSE ONE
These articles can be obtained directly from the University Library’s online joural collection
at the following link or a link has been provided below:
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/
Search for the relevant journal under the “E-journals” tab on the website, find a source,
browse to find the relevant volume and issue, then the relevant article. Downloading articles
may work more smoothly if you conduct your search while physically on campus and using
the University’s wifi network.
Topic 2 – Labour Demand
Leigh, Andrew (2003)
“Employment Effects of Minimum Wages: Evidence from a Quasi-Experiment,”
Australian Economic Review, 36(4), 361-73.
Topic 3 – Labour Market Frictions
Hambur, Jonathan (2023)
“Did Labour Market Concentration Lower Wages Growth Pre-COVID?”
Reserve Bank of Australia, Research Discussion Paper RDP 2023-02.
https://www.rba.gov.au/publications/rdp/2023/2023-02.html
Topic 4 – Labour Supply
He´rault, Nicolas and Gynonne Kalb (2022)
“Understanding the rising trend in female labour force participation,”
Fiscal Studies, 43(4), 341-63.
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Labour Economics ECON30006
Topic 5 – Compensating Wage Differentials
Reynolds, Zac, Daehoon Nahm and Craig MacMillan (2022)
“Compensating Wage Differentials for Job Fatality and Injury Risk in Australia,”
Economic Record, 98(321), 152-65.
Topic 6 – Education and Training
Leigh, Andrew and Chris Ryan (2008)
“Estimating Returns to Education using Different Natural Experiment Techniques,”
Economics of Education Review, 27(2), 149-60.
Topic 7 – Theories of Wage Determination
Dobbie, Michael (2005)
“The Insider-Outsider Theory: Some Evidence from Australia,”
Australian Journal of Labour Economics, 8(2), 181-201.
Topic 8 – Discrimination
Kee, Hiau Joo (2006)
“Glass Ceiling or Sticky Floor? Exploring the Australian Gender Pay Gap,”
Economic Record, 82(259), 408-27.
Topic 9 – Unions
Wooden, Mark (2001)
“Union Wage Effects in the Presence of Enterprise Bargaining,”
Economic Record, 77(236), 1-18.
END OF ASSESSMENT